The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's
clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed
to transfer to balance the two new conferences at 13 teams each.
The Baltimore Colts, Cleveland
Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join
the other AFL teams to form the American Football
Conference (AFC). The remaining NFL teams formed the National Football
Conference (NFC). The conferences were divided into three
divisions: East, Central, and West. The two Eastern divisions had
five teams; the other four divisions had four teams each. The
realignment discussions were so contentious that at one point team
names were pulled out of a hat.

The 26-team league began to use an eight-team playoff format, four from each conference,
that included the three division winners and a wild card
team, the second-place team with the best record. The season
concluded with the Colts defeating the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 in Super Bowl V, the
first Super Bowl played for the NFL Championship. The game was held
at the Orange Bowl
in Miami, and was the first
Super Bowl played on artificial turf.

To televise their games, the combined league retained the
services of CBS and NBC, who were previously
the primary broadcasters of the NFL and the AFL, respectively. It
was then decided that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including
playoff games) while NBC all AFC teams. For interconference games,
CBS would broadcast them if the visiting team was from
the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the
AFC. The two networks also divided up the Super Bowl on a yearly
rotation.

The official game clock is the stadium's scoreboard clock, an
AFL innovation.

Rules are added to place last names on the back of players'
jerseys. The AFL had had names on jerseys, the pre-merger NFL teams
did not.

Division
races

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions
(Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of
each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best
non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker
rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed
by division records, common opponents records, and conference
play.

The New York Giants lost their last regular-season game. Had
they won that game, they would have tied for first place in the NFC
East division and taken the division championship on a tie-breaker;
then, the tie-breakers would have led to a coin toss between Dallas
and Detroit for the NFC wild card.

The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new conferences at 13 teams each. The Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join all ten AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC). The remaining NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). The conferences were divided into three divisions: East, Central, and West. The two Eastern divisions had five teams; the other four divisions had four teams each. The realignment discussions were so contentious that at one point team names were pulled out of a hat.

The 26-team league began to use an eight-team playoff format, four from each conference, that included the three division winners and a wild card team, the second-place team with the best record. The season concluded with the Colts defeating the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 in Super Bowl V, the first Super Bowl played for the NFL Championship. The game was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami, and was the first Super Bowl played on artificial turf.

To televise their games, the combined league retained the services of CBS and NBC, who were previously the primary broadcasters of the NFL and the AFL, respectively. It was then decided that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including playoff games) while NBC all AFC teams. For interconference games, CBS would broadcast them if the visiting team was from the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the AFC. The two networks also divided up the Super Bowl on a yearly rotation.

The official game clock is the stadium's scoreboard clock, an AFL innovation.

Rules are added to place last names on the back of players' jerseys. The AFL had had names on jerseys, the pre-merger NFL teams did not.

Division races

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

The New York Giants lost their last regular-season game. Had they won that game, they would have tied for first place in the NFC East division and taken the division championship on a tie-breaker; then, the tie-breakers would have led to a coin toss between Dallas and Detroit for the NFC wild card.